Handbags and hang ups
by Moo Chapman
Summary: A response to the floral Challenge.. Kibbs A round Robin by the gibbkateff group.
1. By Pandora Moo

The Floral Challenge Response

By Pandora Moo

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, they way you know is cos' if I did Tony would be dating a strange Aussie girl called Moo.

Spoilers: None

AN: the deceptions of a younger sister's duties come from my own experience with my elder sister Jelly.

AN2: Thanx QD for the Beta. All faults are my own.

"I'm hungry," Tony said looking over at Kate, as though wanting her to do something about.

"What am I your mother?" Kate replied at the same time she realised that she was in fact getting hungry her self "Go eat something."

"I didn't bring anything, and I know you have a candy bar or something in your purse." Tony said.

Kate, having grown up as a younger sister, had been guilted in to many things. Her sister, Alison, had more then once woken her up with the question: 'Kate are you awake?' repeated until she answered yes. After which she was sent to get a glass of water, turn on or off the light or sometimes to just talk her sister down from a nightmare. Another rule of the little sister is to not complain when the older sister steels food from you, Brothers of course where a whole other matter.

And being that Kate looked on Tony almost as an older brother left her quite immune to the guilt trip he was attempting to send her on.

"Yeah, but they're mine." Kate countered with a playful smile, and reached in to her bag to pull out one of said bars, only to come up short. She tried to think of where the last two could have gone to, having had of course every intention of giving one to Tony.

She could at best account for one of the three that should be in there. She gave to Abby as a mock incentive to get her the results quicker, but still the last two had her truly puzzled.

"They're missing," Kate said looking at Tony.

"Gibbs must have taken them," Tony pointed out quickly, a fact the Kate missed

"No," Kate dismissed instantly "He'd know better then to go in to my bag, wouldn't he?" Kate asked, looking at Tony with a look that was both horrified and furious at the same time.

"That would be a bad thing? Going in to your bag I mean?" Tony asked tense in his seat

"Yeah, major no-no." Abby said appearing out of nowhere. "Who went into your bag?"

"Some one took my chocolate bars" Kate said.

"Oh" Abby said, "You know I had a ex-boyfriend that kept going into my bag, so I got this twelve volt battery and wired it so that it would give him a shock once he put his hand in the gel" explained gesturing with her hands.

"Gel?" Kate asked, with her tone and minute shake of her head indicating that she didn't understand.

"Hair gel to conduct the electricity" Abby said with her customary bright smile. Kate gave a laugh.

"So it's a bad thing to go in to a girls bag?" Tony asked Just as Gibbs came back to his desk with a cup of coffee.

"How is it that you don't know these things? I mean you _do_ date."

"Is this something guys are supposed to know?" Tony asked, looking at Kate and Abby then at Gibbs, who was trying to figure out what they where arguing about now. Tony was clearly waiting for a response from the elder agent.

"I can't give my opinion with out knowing the subject Dinozzo." Gibbs said with a deceptively impatient tone, which of course he knew would not deter Tony in the slightest.

"Would you go in to a woman's bag with out asking?" Tony asked, not realising that he was not only asking the question Kate could not, but also eliminating Gibbs as a suspect for the crime that that he himself committed.

"No, if you want some thing from a woman's bag you ask her to get it." Gibbs said. Gibbs was saved from having to say any more on the subject by the ringing of his phone.

"Purse or not I'm still hungry."

"Maybe there's something in the fridge" Kate said getting up from her seat and walking toward the community fridge, Abby noticed Gibbs fuming silently on the phone and decided that Tony and Kate would better break her boredom then the supervising agent, so followed on after Tony who had risen from his seat when Kate passed.

She arrived to find Kate looking in to the nearly empty fridge.

"Half a bottle of water, three slices of bead and half a can of tuna"

"So, um, are you planning on becoming Jesus anytime soon?" Abby asked. She got a confused look from Tony and a guilty laugh from Kate.

"Loafs and fish's, water to wine" Abby explained, "Kate got it"

Kate turned away from the fridge resigning herself to hunger when she realised that she had never given Tony a bar from her bag or even eaten one in front of him, so how did he know that they where there?

As the realisation hit her she sat down in to her seat and started to brew up a good hear of steam. By the time that Tony got back to his desk she was beyond furious she was homicidal.

"I'm going to lunch," she announced and grabbed her bag and left before Gibbs had a chance to disagree, not that he had planed to.

It had taken Tony all of five seconds after catching the frost bitten look that Kate had sent him to realise that she knew it had been him that had gone into her bag. So he did what he always did when he needed to say sorry to a girl. He picked up the phone and called a florist.

A mixed bunch of daisy's, gerbera's, and tulips was quickly made up and dispatched.

After twenty minutes, Tony started to worry that Kate had not yet returned. Gibbs who had also seen the anger on his newest hire's face assumed that she was just trying to calm down before returning, and killing Tony.

After an hour both Gibbs and Tony were worried about Kate's continued absence. There worries were realised when they received a phone call from a taxi driver telling them that he had gotten the phone number from there wayward agent after taking her to the emergency room.

Kate had fallen through a plate glass window when she had dodged a couple of kids on skateboards.

GW Emergency Room

Gibbs and Tony walked in to find a tall blond man tending to their friend.

"Are you sure you don't need anything Kate?" The blond man asked his hand wrapped around hers. Kate released a small laugh that to Gibbs ears sounded very flirty.

"I'm really fine Aaron it's just a cut, I've survived much worst." Kate replied to the handsome man who was evidently the very same cabby that had called Gibbs.

Kate's right arm was bandaged tightly; this could be seen because the sleeve of the pale blue blouse had been slit right up to her elbow. The garment had, of course, already been ruined by the copious amounts of blood that now stained it.

"At least give me your phone number so I can check up on you tonight?" Aaron said.

"That's quite the line you've got there," Kate said with what both Aaron and Tony recognised to be dismissing levity but Gibbs took as flirtation. At that he simply turned and walked away from the curtain that separated the bed that Kate sat on from the rest of the ER. Tony was beyond puzzled at his boss' reaction but wisely didn't say anything fear that Gibbs to would be mad at him too.

Gibbs knew he had no right to be jealous his only claim on Kate was that of employer, but still his heart, an organ he had only just started to rediscover, screamed betrayal. Gibbs left Tony to pick up Kate and deal with the hero cabby while he attempted to find out any instructions that Kate needed to know.

I guess this is THE END cos' I have no idea what else to do with it.


	2. BY Rodlox

Now a round robin

This chapter BY Rodlox

'Go back there' a voice whispered in Gibbs' ear. Gibbs looked  
around, but saw nobody within whispering range.  
  
He flagged down a doctor. "How is she?"  
  
'Waiting for you' replied the whisper.  
  
"Excuse me?" Gibbs asked, not sure he believed what he was hearing.  
  
The doctor -- name tag read GAMIYEL -- looked at him as if to say  
that Gibbs should be the one being checked out. "She needs to keep  
her arm elevated, and..." and the rest of the instructions were heard  
by Gibbs.  
  
'Return, return to her' the whispers encouraged.  
  
"...and that should be just fine," the doctor finished.  
  
"Thanks," Gibbs said. "There a coffee machine around here  
somewhere?"  
  
'You don't want coffee. You want Kate.'  
  
That, more than anything else, convinced Gibbs that the whispers  
weren't just his subconscious . . . "right?" he asked himself after  
Dr. Gamiyel had pointed the way to the coffee vending machine, and  
left Gibbs alone.  
  
Gibbs stood at the fork in the corridor. To his left was the hall  
that led to Kate. To his right was the hall that led to coffee.


End file.
